Planning for Students with Learning
Needs …Universal Design
Special Education Department
Ellen J. Stoltz, Ph.D.
Coordinator
Three P’s

Purpose: To provide Grade 2 teachers with
background knowledge to promote effective
instruction by presenting observable traits of students
with learning needs…AND WHAT WE CAN DO
ABOUT IT!

Presentation: Power Point, large- and smallgroupwork, lesson-building with Universal Design;

Pay-off: Increase skill in turning challenge into
possibility by planning with Universal Design;
Ice-Breaker Activity
Identify one instructional
accommodation and one classroom
management strategy you already use
in your classroom.
 Select someone from your table/group
to share with large group.

Ice-Breaker Activity

Instructional Accommodations:

Classroom Management Strategies:
Disability Categories
ID=
HI=
LSH=
VI=
Intellectual
Disability
Hearing
Impairment
Speech and Visual
Language
Impairment
Emotional
Disturbance
OHI=
SLD=
OI=
MD=
Other
Health
Impaired
Specific
Learning
Disability
Orthopedic
Impairment
AUT=
TBI=
DD=
Autism
Traumatic
Brain Injury
Developmental
Delay
DeafBlind
ED=
Multiple
Disabilities
Incidence in Hartford
Total Students with Disabilities=3658
60
50
40
30
Percent
20
10
0
LD
ID
ED
SLI
AUT
•Setting the Scene and Activating
Prior Knowledge
1. Conceptual Framework of Universal Design
2. Disrupt the Deficit Paradigm…
3. Person First….
4. Instructional Connectivity
5. Minimize Impact/Maximize Opportunity
Neurodevelopmental Constructs
Across the Grades
Temporal-Sequential Ordering: time,
seriation, problem-solving
 Spatial Ordering: patterns,geometric
imaging, whole-to-part, spatial
concepts, nonverbal thinking
 Memory: Abstract, symbolic information,
procedural recall, rapid recall of facts,

Neurodevelopmental Constructs
Across the Grades

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Executive Functions
Activation…prioritizing, organizing
Focus…sustain and shift attention
Effort…regulate alertness
Emotion…manage and modulate
Memory…working, recall, LTM, STM
Action…monitor and self-regulate
Characteristics of Students with
Learning Disabilities





Achievement below
ability;
60-80% of students with
LD are males;
Comprise 4-10% of
population,
Familial pattern;
Inconsistent
performance;




Short- and long-term
memory deficits;
Disorganized in
thought, action, and
materials;
Poor spatial awareness
and sequencing in time
and space;
Socially immature;
misinterpret social cues;
What will students with LD struggle
with?

Numerical Proportional Reasoning

Geometry and Measurement
Algebraic reasoning: Patterns and
Functions
 Probability

What will students with LD struggle
with? (or how does the student’s disability interfere with benefiting
from the general education curriculum?)
Relational and
positional concepts
Fractions, decimals
One more
Skip counting
Place value
Patterns
Equations
Multi-step word
problems
Money
Subtraction and
division
Calendar and time
Estimation
Operational signs
Strategies for Students with LD

Increase Memory: Make it
Multisensory…seeing (V),hearing (A), saying
(A), doing (K), writing (V,K,T), acting (VAKT);
 Increase Organization: Provide routines,
graphic organizers for math concepts, visual
symbols for math-problem-solving,
 Utilize Downward Extensions and Task
Analysis: i.e. number sentences and
equations…@@@=@@_; recognize vs.
identification
Team Work

Use the VAKT tool on the next page to
design instructional accommodations to
a Fact Family lesson.
Teaching FACT FAMILIES in
Multisensory Ways…

Visual:

Auditory:

Kinesthetic:

Tactile:
Characteristics of Students with
Other Health Impairments


limited strength,
vitality or alertness,
including a
heightened alertness
with respect to the
educational
environment,
attention deficit
with/without
hyperactivity
disorder;


tuberculosis,
rheumatic fever,
nephritis, asthma,
sickle cell anemia,
hemophilia, epilepsy,
lead poisoning,
leukemia, or diabetes,
adversely affects a
learner’s performance
Characteristics of Students with
OHI-ADHD


ADD/ADHD:
Distracted by sound
and movement,
impulsive,
inconsistent across
settings, taskdependent; hyperalert;
Moves from one
activity to the next;
incomplete work;

Winded, easily fatigued,
little interest in
activities, low
motivation;

Lethargic, low energy,
disorganized thinking;
Did you know that…

ADHD can occur in
different lobes of the
brain?
Characteristics of Students with
OHI-ADHD



attention deficit
with/without
hyperactivity
disorder;
difficulty with ALL six
executive functions;
impairs the neural
circuits that function
as conductor of the
symphony of the brain

Strategy: teacher
needs to serve as
conductor by
organizing,
initiating, reduce
sound and
movement, sustain
motivation;
 Chadd.org
Classroom Management for Students
with ADHD







Scheduled breaks
Hi-protein or complex carb snacks
Visual schedule
3:1 praise ratio
Elapsed timer
Fidget toy
Differential Reinforcement of Other
Behavior (DRO)
Characteristics of Students with
Intellectual Disabilities



Below average intellect
AND adaptive skills,
IQ=70ish or below;
Adaptive functioning=
communication, social,
self-help skills;
No specific personality
and behavioral features:
may be placid, dependent,
aggressive, impulsive;

Strategy: 80-100
repetitions with drill,
concrete examples,
personalized
experience,realia,
manipulatives,
VAKT
Team Work: Application
Math Objective Universal
Design
Procedures
Classroom
Management
Student
Products
Characteristics of Students with
Speech and Language Impairment



Impaired articulation,
expressive language,
receptive language;
May occur with
spoken or sign
language;
Limited vocabulary,
simple grammar and
sentences, unusual
word order; slow
speech;
circumlocutions;





Poor language
comprehension;
misarticulations;
Overlap with students
with ED;
Utilize Power Words
from Word Wall;
Ask students to retell
directions to team;
Utilize peers as
language models;
Characteristics of Students with
Emotional Disturbance



Inability to learn due
to poor peer and adult
relationships;
Abnormal feelings and
behaviors under
normal
circumstances;
Physical symptoms
or fears associated
with school;



Emotional/Social
behaviors that are of a
marked degree and
have lasted for longer
than six months AND
affect learning;
2-16% of population;
Bright, easily bored,
distracted;
Characteristics of Students with
Emotional Disturbance

Argumentative,
defiant, blames
others, loses temper
easily; mood swings;
 Verbal and/or physical
aggression; agitated;
 Passive, socially
reclusive;
 Receptive and
expressive language
concerns;



Low self-esteem; poor
memory and decisionmaking;
Acting out; poor social
relationships;
Strategy: anticipate
behaviors, be proactive,
use preferred activity for
leverage, stay calm;
puzzle reinforcer, VAKT
Characteristics of Students with
Autism


Impaired development
in social interaction and
communication;
Restricted repertoire of
activity and interests;




Lack of
social/emotional
reciprocity;
Lacks awareness of
others, prefers
solitary interests;
Delayed language
comprehension;
Triggers: gym floor,
florescent lights,
noise, movement,
inconsistency
Strategies for Students with Autism






Visual Supports, such as icons, pictures,
photo album of school locations, staff
Elapsed timer
Numbered turn takers
Transition warnings, such as bells, claps,
lights
Routines
Preferred activity alternated with work
Concept Map
Content
Process
Product
Readiness
Profile
Interests
Bloom’s
Taxonomy
Grouping
Presentation
and Response
Style
Document
Project
Demonstration
Drawing
What Can You Do To Improve
Teaching and Learning?







Understand your own Knowing-Doing gap when you teach.
Build your presentations with the product in mind.
Know there are better ways of doing things…tap your internal
experts!
PLAN grouping, traffic flow, multi-sensory tasks, environmental
triggers, choices
Don’t Assume! Apply Bloom’s Taxonomy to guide lessonplanning, i.e. knowledge vs. application
Embed accommodations and modifications into the lesson for all
students to access; Think VAKT and Task Analysis
Repetition: similar (drill) and diverse (multiple ways) to learn the
same material
Putting It All Together to Plan for
All Students…
Universal Design Lesson Plan
Objective
Universal
Design
Procedures
Classroom
Management
Student
Products
Share Plans…
Additional Ideas…





Measure and Display Successes for Learning and Behavior;
Link to BIP;
Increase Student’s Awareness of How Disability Affects
Learning and Behavior; Link to IEP;
Utilize an Array of Consistently Applied Strategies to Ensure
Success, i.e. highlighting verbs, restating directions in student
language;
Focus on Student Strengths and Interests for Preferred Activities
(leverage);
Utilize Visual Supports for Learning and Behavior, such as
authentic pictures of student working, daily schedule; point
system (individual and group) with puzzle reinforcer and
preferred activity; elapsed timer
Questions?
stole001@hartfordschools.org;
Kindergartensigns.com
Environments.com
www.4teachers.org
www.help4teachers.com
www.tandl.leon.k12.fl.us/lang/Ellessonspage.html
www.borenson.com
http://.timetimer.com